Technology the Topic at Crest’s Annual Conference
Regional Managers, Directors, Admin Services and Marketing team members gather once a year to discuss the latest Crest developments.
For 2015, CrestClean explored the theme of “Embracing the Digital Future” for the annual Masters Conference.
The yearly gathering brings all of Crest’s Regional Managers together with personnel from Admin Services and the marketing office and gives everyone a chance to catch up in person, learn what’s ahead for the company, as well as meet people who are new to the business.
“It’s great to have 41 people here today, including 13 new team members,” said Chairman of Directors Marty Perkinson in his introduction to the two-day event, held at the Rose Park Hotel in Auckland. “There was a time when I remember there were only 13 attendees of the annual conference!” he added, noting that CrestClean has achieved remarkable growth since it began in 1996.
Managing Director Grant McLauchlan provided recent numbers to support that, noting that several regions had over 40 percent growth during the past year. “Crest has developed an incredible name in the industry. I can only see very positive things occurring,” he said.
Sam Lewis, Franchise and Procurement Manager, teaching Regional Managers Abby Latu and Jan Lichtwark how to use the CrestClean Van Audit app on their new tablets.
Four new Regional Managers were introduced and it was announced that in 2014 there were 61 new franchisee teams appointed, bringing the company total to 462.
To keep pace with this rapid growth, during the second day of the conference all Regional Managers were issued new HP tablets, which host CrestClean’s customised Microsoft platform and will allow for on-the-spot reporting and customer assistance while managers are in the field. They also feature a special app for van audits, which are routine checks of franchisees’ vehicles and equipment to ensure compliance with CrestClean standards. Additional customised Crest apps will be rolled out over the course of the year, further advancing our ability to provide excellent customer service with improved response time, streamlined accounts and document access, and in-field reporting.
Linda Coles was the keynote speaker, sharing excellent ways business owners can optimise the use of social media.
Adding to the tech theme was the featured guest speaker, Linda Coles, from bluebanana.co.nz and the author of Start with Hello and Marketing with Social Media. She gave an engaging and informative presentation about how to use social media platforms as tools for networking and business promotion. In particular, her tips for optimising LinkedIn provided several new insights for Crest Regional Managers.
